William Shatner

Actor / Writer

Born: 22 March 1931

Birthplace: Montreal, Canada

Best known as: Captain James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise

Even 40 years later, William Shatner is known as Captain James T. Kirk, the heroic starship leader on the 1960s TV series Star Trek. The show (created by Gene Roddenberry) ran from 1966 until 1969 and spawned a franchise of TV shows, movies, comics and merchandise. Shatner played Kirk in a series of Star Trek movies: Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979); Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982); Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984); Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986); Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989); Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991); and Star Trek: Generations (1994). Critics sneered, but Shatner proved his popularity as a cop in the series T.J. Hooker (1982-87), as the host of the reality TV show Rescue 911 (1989) and, since the late 1990s, as that guy in those Priceline.com ads. Shatner appeared as slick lawyer Denny Crane in the final season of the TV series The Practice (2003-04), then had even more success with the role in the spin-off series Boston Legal (2004-08, with James Spader). He began hosting Shatner's Raw Nerve, an interview show on The Biography Channel, in 2009. The next year he began appearing as the titular cranky dad in the series $#*! My Dad Says. William Shatner is also the author of the TekWar series of science fiction novels. He published an autobiography, Up Till Now, in 2008.

Extra credit: William Shatner married his fourth wife, Indiana native Elizabeth Martin, on February 13, 2001... Shatner's third wife, Nerine Kidd, drowned in a swimming pool accident in August of 1999... He was previously married to Gloria Rand (1956-69) and to Marcy Lafferty (1973-96)... In January of 2006 Shatner sold one of his kidney stones for $25,000 and donated the proceeds to charity... William Shatner won an Emmy in 2004 for playing Denny Crane in The Practice, and then another in 2005 for playing Denny Crane on Boston Legal.